Broomfield library's Tech Cafe offers advice, answers

By Megan Quinn

Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted:
06/30/2013 01:00:00 AM MDT

TECH TROUBLESHOOTING: Ira Diamond works with Linda D'Angelo to get an app to work on her iPad during the June 7 session of Tech Cafe at Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library. (David R. Jennings / Broomfield Enterprise)

If you go

What: Tech Cafe drop-in technology help

When: 1 to 3 p.m. first and third Friday of the month

Where: Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library, 3 Community Park Road

Cost: Free

More info: Kathryn Lynip at 720-887-2368

Those who have experienced the frustration of figuring out a troublesome laptop, a misbehaving smartphone or a misunderstood digital camera sometimes just need a little help.

Librarians and tech volunteers at Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library know the feeling. That's why they now offer Tech Cafe, a twice-monthly, drop-in help desk where people can get quick answers to questions about how to solve pesky tech problems.

Patrons can drop in for a 15-minute session with a tech-savvy librarian to get their questions answered about everything from smartphone apps to computer troubleshooting to advice about how to back up data. Tech Cafe is from 1 to 3 p.m. the first and third Friday of the month in the library's lobby. The next session is July 12.

"We wanted to make the help a little more visible for people," said Kathryn Lynip, manager of information and adult services for the library.

Lynip said the Tech Cafe concept is meant to help people more speedily and effectively. The reference desk often gets visitors who have computer or technology questions, but those at the reference desk don't always have time to fully address their questions.

Computer and smartphone troubleshooting is one goal, but Lynip said the Tech Cafe also aims to more visibly showcase the library's tech-savvy offerings such as e-books, computer classes and an online database for everything from an auto repair reference center to foreign language help.

The community tends to think of the library as a building full of books, but the library system has much more to offer, she said.

"We're a knowledge institution," she said. "The library is a repository of knowledge ... the library is evolving to keep up with all the forms knowledge takes," whether it's books or electronic information, she said.

Tech help isn't new for the library. Computer tutors such as Ira Diamond have been offering one-on-one tutoring and computer classes for years.

Back when the economic downturn cost many people their jobs, Diamond said library patrons mostly asked for help with how to type up a resume, how to bone up on working with Excel spreadsheets and how to learn new programs that were requirements for job descriptions.

Nowadays, those computer classes are still in demand, but the needs of library patrons have started to shift away from hour-long classes and toward shorter, more specific needs, he said.

"People don't always need an hour to learn how to download an e-book or learn how to use their digital photo programs," he said.

Since Tech Cafe started last month, it has drawn a variety of residents who have questions about specific phone apps or programs on their computers.

Mary Nelson, a longtime Broomfield resident, brought her tablet to the Tech Cafe so she could figure out how to use Skype. She wanted to do video chats with her daughter, who lives in California.

"I'm one of those lifelong learners," she said after she tucked her tablet away.

Though she is embracing modern technology, she finds that the most reliable places to go when she needs direction are of a more analog nature.

"The more I learn, the more questions I have, and the library is a great place to go ... that and the telephone book," she said.

Lynip said the library is hoping to show people the answers to their questions — and the portal to information about technology and other topics — isn't encapsulated on the Internet alone. To answer a few more of Nelson's questions, Lynip and Diamond sent Nelson home with a few YouTube videos to watch, but also recommended several tech books she could check out from the library.

Just as the library supports book literacy, technological literacy also is a priority, Lynip said.

"A lot of people just use Google, but we (at the library) have information that has been vetted," she said.

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